• Alec Soth on art and the internet: "I still like physical stuff. The pleasure of being a photographer is having an excuse to wander out into the world. I’ve come to think of the process as being like web-surfing in the real world."

8.27.2010

If you're like me, you don't need images of bloated bodies and rooftop refugees to be reminded of the devastation left behind after Hurricane Katrina five years ago this week. Which is why Richard Misrach's photo series, now on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is so striking: His unpopulated images of spraypainted messages marking flood-ravaged homes conjure the despair, rage and resilience without indulging in a revisitation of the etched-in-memory gore. In an excellent narrated slideshow of images at PBS' site, Misrach talks of both the letterforms and the poetry of the texts, which he calls "small haikus," noting that he marveled at how "peoples voices were in the way they wrote these things."He says he began to mentally categorize the graffiti into themes, including messages of mourning and fear, anger at the government and insurance companies, and "existential pleas to the universe." Of the image below, showing an overturned car sprayed with the lone word "Sorry," he says, "I don't know if that was God writing that to people, or who wrote that...."

Misrach is commemorating the five-year anniversary of the hurricane by donating works from the 69-piece series to the New Orleans Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

8.26.2010

PBS' NewsHour has produced a video about CSA, the Community Supported Art project co-organized by Springboard for the Arts and mnartists.org. The video segment features Springboard's Laura Zabel, Minneapolis artist Andy Ducett and yours truly. Watch it here.

8.25.2010

Rob Cockerham at Cockeyed has a little contest: Throw up a fake "Store Opening" sign in the window of a vacant storefront or warehouse in your town, take a snap and send in the image. It's a way to "liven up our neighborhood streets and remind everyone that economic recovery is just around the corner." Deadline: 11:59 Pacific this Friday night.

• While the AP and Mannie Garcia, who took the shot of Obama that Shepard Fairey appropriated, have dropped charges against each other, Fairey's still on the hook. The AP's copyright infringement suit against him gets going in courts next March.

8.20.2010

• Luzinterruptus has modified the yellow protective covers for scaffolding joints at Madrid construction sites to add 130 birds and lighting "to achieve a warm, cozy atmosphere throughout the scaffolded area, inviting one to remain and contemplate such an unusual habitat." More on Urban Nests here.

• Lebanon, KS, exhibition: The Centers of the USA, by the Center for Land Use Interpretation and the Institute of Marking and Measuring, opened this week. It "describes several of the “Centers” of the United States, such as the geodetic center, in Lucas, Kansas; the geographic center, near Belle Fourche, South Dakota; and the current population center, in Edgar Springs, Missouri."

• Vicious cycle: Minneapolis "Work of Art" contestant Miles Mendenhall landed a New York show for participating in the Bravo series -- from none other than one of the show's judges.

• New York artist panels: "On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Congressional decision to require the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to consider 'general standards of decency and respect' in awarding grants, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) presents How Obscene is This?, a program about censorship and arts funding." Sept. 22 and 27, the New School.

8.13.2010

equipped with an ultra-high frequency radio, hacked arduino board, laser and batteries. Text messages can be typed on a phone-sized wooden keypad which is integrated in the also wooden slingshot. After the message is finished, the user can aim on a media facade and send/shoot the message straight to the targeted point. It will then appear as a colored splash with the message written within.

• Trailer: The Tillman Story. This documentary about the U.S. government's cover-up of the friendly-fire killing of the NFL star and soldier just lost its bid to get its R rating reduced to PG-13, a designation that would help the film appeal to wider audiences. The reason: Language. When Tillman was being fired upon by U.S. soldiers, he shouted, "I'm Pat Fucking Tillman." The film opens in limited release on Aug. 20, with screenings starting nationwide Sept. 3.

• Ish: "For only $175 you can install a little piece of metal engraved with a QR code on your loved one’s tombstone. Scan the code with your cellphone, and the code will redirect you to a website featuring text, photos, and video about your beloved."

Although I do believe her work is often misinterpreted as solely working to hide bodies, and is perhaps challenging ubiquitous conventional body imagery instead, whatever her explicit agenda is doesn’t seem to be the point. She’s much more interested in ambiguity as a tool, which “allows the questions and content of my work to form to the viewer. And I think a society which asks questions is a healthy society.”

8.03.2010

On July 15, Leon Shambroom -- the son of photographer Paul Shambroom and independent curator and writer Joan Rothfuss (formerly of the Walker Art Center) -- was trapped in a house fire in South Minneapolis and was overcome by smoke inhalation. Rescuers found him alive but unconscious, and he remains in a coma today, likely with severe brain damage.

With costly long-term care expected, his friends are working to raise funds to help his family cover medical expenses. Acknowledging Leon's twin jobs as a DJ (Schlomo Sapien) and a delivery driver in Minneapolis, two events are being planned: "Pizzas for Leon" next Tuesday, and a concert this Wednesday night in Northeast Minneapolis. (Out-of-towners: Scroll down for news on ways you can help.)

Benefit concert:A fundraising concert for Leon will be held Wednesday night, Aug. 4 from 8 'til 2 a.m. with 100 percent of proceeds going to the family:

Pizzas for Leon: When you order a pizza from any of these Pizza Hut locations between 5 and 10 pm on Tuesday, Aug. 10, and tell the dispatcher you want to help Leon, a portion of sales will go directly to his medical care:

For those outside the Twin Cities or not fond of pizza: The family has set up The Leon Shambroom Fund and a PayPal account to go with it. Click to donate:

I've never met Leon, but as a longtime colleague of Joan's at the Walker and the guy often pestering Paul for quotes or permission to reprint his photos, I've always been fond of the family. I hope you'll help out however you can with this sad situation.